PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT AND ITS AFFECTING FACTORS AMONG NURSES WORKING AT COVID-19 DESIGNATED HOSPITALS IN BHUTAN

Abstract

The impact of the COVID-19 has posed a significant threat to public health across the world. The majority of frontline nurses were affected, The psychological impact is known to affect the psychological well-being of nurses, hence compromising the quality of care during such a crisis. This study aimed to examine the level of psychological impact and its affecting factors, including knowledge of COVID-19, fear of COVID-19, religiosity, workload perception, and perceived organizational support among the nurses working at COVID-19 designated in Bhutan. Study participants consisted of 133 nurses working at COVID-19 designated hospital in Bhutan. Study participants were selected through simple random sampling. Self-administered questionnaires including demographic questionnaire, Kessler psychological impact scale (K10), knowledge of COVID-19, fear of COVID-19, centrality of religiosity, workload perception questionnaire, and the perceived organizational support scale were used for data collection. Their reliabilities in terms of Cronbach’s alpha were .91, .71, .82, .81, .86, and .86 respectively. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, and standard multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data.

The results revealed that this sample had a mean score of the psychological impact of 20.49 (SD = 6.7) and showed that the majority of the participants had a moderate level of psychological impact representing 40.6% (n = 133). Standard multiple regression analysis revealed workload perception, perceived organizational support, religiosity, and fear of COVID-19 could explain 15.3% of the variance in psychological impact (F (4, 128) = 6.95, p= < .05). Among all the selected variables in this study, workload perception (β = .28, p < .05) was the only significant predictor of psychological impact. Policymakers and nursing administrators can use the finding from this study to develop interventions to mitigate the psychological morbidities among nurses required for combating a similar pandemic crisis by reducing their workload.

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